Title of the invention: battery module, battery pack including such battery module, and automobile including such battery pack
Technical field
[One]
The present invention relates to a battery module, a battery pack including such a battery module and a vehicle including such a battery pack.
[2]
This application is a priority claim application for Korean Patent Application No. 10-2018-0113241 filed on September 20, 2018, and all contents disclosed in the specification and drawings of the application are incorporated herein by reference.
Background
[3]
Rechargeable batteries with high ease of application and high energy density according to product group are not only portable devices, but also electric vehicles (EVs) or hybrid vehicles (HEVs) driven by an electric drive source. It is universally applied. Such a secondary battery is attracting attention as a new energy source for eco-friendly and energy efficiency enhancement in that it does not generate by-products from the use of energy as well as the primary advantage that it can dramatically reduce the use of fossil fuels.
[4]
Currently widely used types of secondary batteries include lithium ion batteries, lithium polymer batteries, nickel cadmium batteries, nickel hydride batteries, and nickel zinc batteries. The operating voltage of such a unit secondary battery cell, that is, a unit battery cell, is about 2.5V to 4.5V. Therefore, when a higher output voltage is required, a battery pack may be configured by connecting a plurality of battery cells in series. In addition, a battery pack may be configured by connecting a plurality of battery cells in parallel according to the charge/discharge capacity required for the battery pack. Accordingly, the number of battery cells included in the battery pack may be variously set according to a required output voltage or charge/discharge capacity.
[5]
Meanwhile, when configuring a battery pack by connecting a plurality of battery cells in series/parallel, a battery module including at least one battery cell is first configured, and other components are added using at least one battery module. It is common to construct a battery pack.
[6]
A conventional battery module or battery pack includes a plurality of battery cells, wherein electrode leads of the plurality of battery cells are electrically connected to each other through a bus bar. This electrical connection is generally made by laser welding to interconnect the electrode leads of the battery cells and the busbar.
[7]
However, during the manufacturing process of the battery module or the battery pack, a gap space having a predetermined size may be generated between the electrode lead and the bus bar due to assembly tolerances. When such a gap space is generated, when the electrode leads and the bus bar are mutually laser welded, there is a problem that the laser beam penetrates the gap space and damages the main body of the battery cell.
Detailed description of the invention
Technical challenge
[8]
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is a battery module capable of preventing transmission of a laser beam through a gap space according to an assembly tolerance during mutual laser welding of an electrode lead of a battery cell and a bus bar, a battery pack including such a battery module, and It is to provide a vehicle including such a battery pack.
Means of solving the task
[9]
In order to solve the above object, the present invention provides a battery module, comprising: a plurality of battery cells in which electrode leads protrude in at least one direction; And beam transmission for preventing laser beam transmission in the direction of the plurality of battery cells during the laser welding, disposed on one side of the plurality of battery cells and connected to electrode leads of the plurality of battery cells through laser welding. It provides a battery module comprising; at least one bus bar having an anti-guider.
[10]
The electrode leads to be laser-welded with the at least one busbar may not be bent horizontally from an upper side of the at least one busbar and may be in close contact with both side surfaces of the at least one busbar.
[11]
The beam transmission prevention guider may be provided on both side surfaces of the at least one bus bar.
[12]
The at least one bus bar may include a bus bar body covering one side of the plurality of battery cells and formed to have a predetermined thickness; And a guide chamfer provided on both upper sides of the busbar body and configured to guide the laser welding, wherein the beam transmission prevention guider extends from the guide chamfer and is formed to be inclined downwards of the busbar body. I can.
[13]
The beam transmission prevention guiders are provided in a pair, and the pair of beam transmission prevention guiders may be obliquely extended downward from each guide chamfer.
[14]
The width between the pair of beam transmission prevention guiders may increase from the top to the bottom of the bus bar body.
[15]
The beam transmission prevention guider may be integrally formed with the bus bar body.
[16]
At least one end of the beam transmission preventing guider may be formed to be round.
[17]
In addition, the present invention, a battery pack, at least one battery module according to the above-described embodiments; And a pack case for packaging the at least one battery module.
[18]
In addition, the present invention provides a vehicle, comprising: at least one battery pack according to the above-described embodiment.
Effects of the Invention
[19]
According to various embodiments as described above, a battery module capable of preventing transmission of a laser beam through a gap space according to an assembly tolerance during mutual laser welding of an electrode lead of a battery cell and a bus bar, and a battery including such a battery module It is possible to provide a pack and a vehicle including such a battery pack.
Brief description of the drawing
[20]
The following drawings appended to the present specification illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention, and serve to further understand the technical idea of ​​the present invention together with the detailed description of the present invention, which will be described later. It is limited to and should not be interpreted.
[21]
1 is a view for explaining a battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[22]
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a bus bar of the battery module of FIG. 1.
[23]
3 is a cross-sectional view of the bus bar of FIG. 2.
[24]
4 is a view for explaining another embodiment of the bus bar of FIG. 3.
[25]
5 is a view for explaining laser welding of electrode leads and bus bars of battery cells of the battery module of FIG. 1.
[26]
6 is a view for explaining laser welding when a gap occurs between an electrode lead and a bus bar of conventional battery cells.
[27]
FIG. 7 is a view for explaining laser welding when a gap occurs between an electrode lead and a bus bar of the battery cells of FIG. 1.
[28]
8 is a view for explaining a battery pack according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[29]
9 is a view for explaining a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Mode for carrying out the invention
[30]
The present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described herein are illustratively shown to aid understanding of the invention, and it should be understood that the present invention may be implemented with various modifications different from the embodiments described herein. In addition, in order to aid understanding of the invention, the accompanying drawings are not drawn to scale, but dimensions of some components may be shown exaggeratedly.
[31]
1 is a view for explaining a battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a view for explaining the bus bar of the battery module of Figure 1, Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the bus bar of Figure 2, Figure 4 is a diagram for describing another embodiment of the bus bar of FIG. 3.
[32]
1 to 4, the battery module 10 may include battery cells 100 and a bus bar 200. In addition, the battery module 10 is not shown, but other components constituting the battery module 10 and a module case for accommodating the battery cells 100, the bus bar 200 and the other components, etc. It may further include component parts such as.
[33]
The battery cells 100 may be provided in plural. The plurality of battery cells 100 may be electrically connected to each other through a bus bar 200 to be described later. Each of the plurality of battery cells 100 is a secondary battery, and may be provided as a pouch-type secondary battery.
[34]
Each of the plurality of battery cells 100 may include an electrode assembly 110 (see FIG. 7 ), a battery case 130, and an electrode lead 150.
[35]
The electrode assembly 110 may include a positive electrode plate, a negative electrode plate, and a separator. Since the electrode assembly 100 is well known, a detailed description will be omitted below.
[36]
The battery case 130 may be formed of a laminate sheet including a resin layer and a metal layer, and may package the electrode assembly 110. Since the battery case 130 is well known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted below.
[37]
The electrode lead 150 is electrically connected to the electrode assembly 110 and may protrude outside the battery case 130 in at least one direction. The electrode leads 150 are provided in a pair, and may be formed of an anode lead and a cathode lead, respectively.
[38]
The electrode lead 150 may be electrically connected to the electrode lead 150 of the adjacent battery cell 110 through a bus bar 200 to be described later. Here, the electrical connection may be performed through laser welding.
[39]
The bus bar 200 is for electrical connection of the plurality of battery cells 100 and may be provided in at least one or more plurality. The bus bar 200 is disposed on one side of the plurality of battery cells 100 and may be connected to the electrode leads 150 of the plurality of battery cells 100 through laser welding.
[40]
Here, the electrode leads 150 of the battery cells 100 that are laser-welded with the bus bar 200 are not bent horizontally from the top of the bus bar 200, It may be in close contact with, and may be electrically connected by laser welding on both sides of the bus bar 200.
[41]
That is, in this embodiment, the electrode leads 150 of the battery cells 100 connected to the bus bar 200 may be welded to the bus bar 200 without bending. Accordingly, in the present embodiment, since a separate additional bending process for connecting the electrode leads 150 to the bus bar 200 may be omitted, the manufacturing process efficiency of the battery module 10 may be improved. I can.
[42]
Hereinafter, the bus bar 200 will be described in more detail.
[43]
The bus bar 200 may include a bus bar body 210, a guide chamfer 230, and a beam transmission prevention guide 250.
[44]
The bus bar body 210 covers one side of the plurality of battery cells 100, and in this embodiment, an upper side of the plurality of battery cells 100, and may be formed to have a predetermined thickness and a predetermined length. .
[45]
The guide chamfer 230 is provided on both upper sides of the bus bar body 210 and may guide the laser welding. The guide chamfer 230 may be provided to be inclined downward to have a predetermined inclination angle.
[46]
The beam transmission prevention guider 250 is for preventing laser beam transmission in the direction of the plurality of battery cells 100 during the laser welding, and both sides of the bus bar 200, specifically, the bus bar main body It may be provided on both sides of the 210.
[47]
More specifically, the beam transmission prevention guider 250 is formed integrally with the bus bar body 210, extends from the guide chamfer 230, and extends obliquely to the lower side of the bus bar body 210. I can.
[48]
Here, the beam transmission prevention guider 250 may be obliquely extended to have an inclination angle different from that of the guide chamfer 230. In addition, the inclination angle in the vertical direction of the beam transmission prevention guider 230 may be formed to be smaller than the entry angle of the laser beam A of the laser welding apparatus L to be described later.
[49]
The beam transmission prevention guider 250 may be provided in a pair. The pair of beam transmission prevention guides 250 may be obliquely extended downward from each guide chamfer 230.
[50]
The widths W1 and W2 between the pair of beam transmission prevention guiders 250 may increase from the top to the bottom of the bus bar body 210. Accordingly, the lower width W1 of the pair of beam transmission prevention guiders 250 may be larger than the upper width W2 of the pair of beam transmission prevention guiders 250.
[51]
On the other hand, the pair of beam transmission prevention guiders 250, as disclosed in FIG. 4, at least one end, specifically, the upper end may be formed to be round. Accordingly, a portion where the pair of beam transmission prevention guiders 250 and the guide chamfer 230 contact may be provided to be rounded, so that there is a risk of damage to the ends of the electrode leads 150 of the battery cells 100. Can be effectively prevented. This is because when a portion where the pair of beam transmission prevention guiders 250 and the guide chamfer 230 contact is sharp, ends of the electrode leads 150 of the battery cells 100 may be damaged.
[52]
Hereinafter, laser welding of the electrode leads 150 and the bus bar 200 of the battery cells 100 of the battery module 10 according to the present embodiment will be described in more detail.
[53]
5 is a view for explaining laser welding of electrode leads and bus bars of battery cells of the battery module of FIG. 1.
[54]
Referring to FIG. 5, when the electrode leads 150 of the battery cells 100 and the bus bar 200 are electrically connected, first, the electrode leads 150 of the battery cells 100 are Each of the pair of beam transmission prevention guides 250 of the bus bar 200 may be brought into close contact with each other.
[55]
In addition, the electrode lead (A) is irradiated from the laser welding device (L) from the upper side of the bus bar (L) to the contact portion between the electrode lead (150) and the beam transmission prevention guider (250). 150) and the bus bar 200 may be connected to each other through welding. In this case, the guide chamfer 230 may guide more accurate irradiation of the laser beam A of the laser welding device L to the contact portion.
[56]
Meanwhile, a situation in which the electrode leads 150 of the battery cells 100 are not completely in close contact with the bus bar 200 may occur due to an assembly tolerance during the manufacturing process of the battery module 10.
[57]
6 is a view for explaining laser welding when a gap occurs between an electrode lead and a bus bar of conventional battery cells, and FIG. 7 is a view for explaining laser welding when a gap occurs between the electrode lead and a bus bar of the battery cells of FIG. 1. It is a drawing for explanation.
[58]
Referring to FIG. 6, when a situation occurs in which the electrode lead E of the conventional battery cell C does not completely come into close contact with the bus bar B, the electrode lead E and the bus bar B A gap space G of may be generated.
[59]
In this case, the laser beam A irradiated from the laser welding device L may be transmitted to the gap space G according to the assembly tolerance, thereby causing damage to the main body of the battery cell C. Depending on the degree of irradiation of the transmitted laser beam A, the battery cell C may be damaged or the battery cell B may be exploded.
[60]
Referring to FIG. 7, in the case of the present embodiment, even if a predetermined gap space G is generated according to the assembly tolerance, the laser welding device ( It is possible to effectively prevent the laser beam A irradiated from L) from being transmitted to the battery cell 100 under the bus bar 200.
[61]
Therefore, in this embodiment, even if the gap space G according to the assembly tolerance is generated through the beam transmission prevention guide 230 of the bus bar 200, the bus bar of the laser beam A ( 200) Direct beam transmission to the lower side of the battery cell 100 may be prevented.
[62]
Therefore, in this embodiment, through the beam transmission prevention guider 230 formed on the bus bar 200, between the electrode leads 150 and the bus bar 200 of the battery cell 100 During laser welding, damage or explosion of the battery cell 100 that may be generated by the laser beam A of the laser welding device L can be effectively prevented.
[63]
8 is a view for explaining a battery pack according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a view for explaining a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[64]
8 and 9, the battery pack 1 includes at least one battery module 10 according to the previous embodiment and a pack case 50 for packaging the at least one battery module 10. I can.
[65]
The battery pack 1 may be provided in the vehicle V as a fuel source for the vehicle V. For example, the battery pack 1 may be provided in the vehicle V in an electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, and other ways in which the battery pack 1 can be used as a fuel source.
[66]
In addition, it goes without saying that the battery pack 1 may be provided in other devices, devices, and facilities, such as an energy storage system using a secondary battery, in addition to the vehicle V.
[67]
As described above, the battery pack 1 according to the present embodiment and the apparatus, apparatus, and equipment including the battery pack 1 such as the vehicle V include the battery module 10 described above. A battery pack 1 having all of the advantages due to one battery module 10 and a device, apparatus, and equipment such as a vehicle V including the battery pack 1 can be implemented.
[68]
According to various embodiments as described above, when the electrode lead 150 of the battery cell 100 and the bus bar 200 are mutually laser welded, the laser beam A through the gap space G according to an assembly tolerance The battery module 10 capable of preventing transmission of ), the battery pack 1 including the battery module 10, and the vehicle V including the battery pack 1 may be provided. I can.
[69]
In the above, preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, but the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and is generally used in the technical field to which the present invention pertains without departing from the gist of the present invention claimed in the claims. Of course, various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art, and these modifications should not be understood individually from the technical idea or prospect of the present invention.
Claims
[Claim 1]
A battery module, comprising: a plurality of battery cells in which electrode leads protrude in at least one direction; And beam transmission for preventing laser beam transmission in the direction of the plurality of battery cells during the laser welding, disposed on one side of the plurality of battery cells and connected to electrode leads of the plurality of battery cells through laser welding. Battery module comprising a; at least one bus bar having a prevention guider.
[Claim 2]
The battery according to claim 1, wherein the electrode leads to be laser-welded with the at least one bus bar are not bent in a horizontal direction above the at least one bus bar, and are in close contact with both sides of the at least one bus bar. module.
[Claim 3]
The battery module of claim 2, wherein the beam transmission prevention guider is provided on both side surfaces of the at least one bus bar.
[Claim 4]
The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the at least one bus bar comprises: a bus bar body that covers one side of the plurality of battery cells and has a predetermined thickness; And a guide chamfer provided on both upper sides of the bus bar body and configured to guide the laser welding, wherein the beam transmission prevention guide extends from the guide chamfer and is formed to be inclined downward of the bus bar body. Battery module, characterized in that.
[Claim 5]
The battery module of claim 4, wherein the beam transmission prevention guiders are provided in a pair, and the pair of beam transmission prevention guiders are obliquely extended downward from each guide chamfer.
[Claim 6]
The battery module according to claim 5, wherein a width between the pair of beam transmission prevention guides increases from an upper side to a lower side of the bus bar main body.
[Claim 7]
The battery module of claim 4, wherein the beam transmission prevention guider is integrally formed with the bus bar body.
[Claim 8]
The battery module of claim 4, wherein at least one end of the beam transmission preventing guider is formed to be round.
[Claim 9]
At least one battery module according to claim 1; And a pack case for packaging the at least one battery module.
[Claim 10]
A vehicle comprising a; at least one battery pack according to claim 9.